Team Notes week 8 2016

According to the Associated Press, Matt Jones' problems holding onto the football are hardly the only mistake the Washington Redskins will want to correct before they play again.

Still, Jones' fumbling woes are going to get a lot of attention until Washington lines up against the Cincinnati Bengals in London Sunday.

"You can't put the ball on the ground as a running back. That's just rule No. 1. So that's something we have to address and look at as a staff," head coach Jay Gruden said Monday. "He understands the magnitude of fumbling the football. If he doesn't, he does now. I mean, he should know by now."

During Sunday's 20-17 loss at the Detroit Lions, ending Washington's four-game winning streak, Jones lost a fumble into the end zone in the first quarter. The running back and quarterback Kirk Cousins had two other exchanges that didn't work -- Washington recovered one, Detroit the other.

Each of the two turnovers led to points for the Lions.

As ESPN.com's John Keim notes, Jones has averaged one fumble every 33 carries this season -- the average is 100.68 carries per fumble. In the last two years combined, Jones has lost the ball once every 34.71 carries -- the average during that period is 87.27, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He has lost two fumbles this season and six for his career.

Jones worked on reducing his fumbles in the offseason, focusing on holding the ball higher and tighter to his body. Sunday, he lost the ball near the end zone because he was fighting for extra yardage and as he tried to lunge forward the ball squirted free.

But it's clearly a problem.

"We just shot ourselves in the foot," Gruden said.

He made it sound as if Jones -- a second-year player who leads the Redskins with 99 carries and 460 yards rushing -- could lose some of his touches to Chris Thompson and rookie Robert Kelley.

Adding to the intrigue, Jones was held out of practice Wednesday due to soreness in his knee.

Thompson, often used as a third-down back, had 12 runs for 73 yards on Sunday, along with seven catches for 40 yards. Kelley ran four times for 15 yards and caught a 1-yard TD pass. Jones only had 10 carries for 27 yards.

Gruden called Thompson's number of plays "a great number for him."

The coach also made clear: "We're not going to give up on Matt. We've just got to make sure that he protects the dang football."

To be sure, the Redskins have other issues to clean up.

The numbers in the passing game look good. Cousins was 30 of 39 for 301 yards, didn't have an interception and took just two sacks. But there were two fumbles one a botched handoff after tripping over center Spencer Long. The Lions also sat back and forced Cousins to hit short passes over and over. The longest pass of the day was a 27-yarder to tight end Vernon Davis.

Dustin Hopkins missed a 45-yard field-goal attempt that hit the top of the left crossbar.

The offensive line was ineffective at times.

The defense was basically nonexistent in the final minute, when Matthew Stafford drove Detroit 75 yards in 49 seconds for the go-ahead score, an 18-yard TD pass to Anquan Boldin with 16 seconds left.

Gruden acknowledged that perhaps the Redskins should have tried to apply more pressure on Stafford on the outcome-altering possession, including rushing more than three on the touchdown play.

That, and other questions, will occupy him for the coming week.

"Got to get this taste out of our mouth," Gruden said.

Meanwhile, tight end Jordan Reed (concussion) was practicing Wednesday as he did last week. He has been cleared by an independent neurologist to do that much. But it doesn't mean he will travel to London.

"No. Not necessarily," Gruden said. "He is just cleared to practice and he still has to do all the tests and still have to get cleared by the independent doctor who gets a lot of air time."

Reed practiced last Wednesday in a non-contact jersey but was kept off the field Thursday and Friday and missed the Lions game. It was the second game he has missed in a row and this is the sixth documented concussion of Reed's career dating to two he had while in college at Florida

In addition, cornerback Josh Norman remains in the NFL's concussion protocol after being injured early in the third quarter of Sunday's loss. Norman was limited Wednesday.

That's a serious problem with the Cincinnati Bengals and star wide receiver A.J. Green looming this weekend when the teams meet in London at Wembley Stadium.

The Redskins will leave for London on Thursday, landing Friday morning.

We'll have more clarity on Jones, Reed and Norman then (watch the Late-Breaking News section for more).

With Reed out against Detroit, Jamison Crowder's playing time took an uptick as he was on the field for 77 percent of the team snaps. Crowder also led the team in targets and according to NFL.com's Matt Harmon, he was clearly their most dynamic player in the open field.

Harmon went on to note the minimizing of DeSean Jackson continued in Week 7.

Now, Jackson has target totals of eight, two, seven, nine and eight since Week 3, but he has not gone over sixty yards since that Week 3 game against the Giants. Jackson's average depth of target was just 11.4 on Sunday, which is lower than usual.

It appears that Jackson does not have a clear role in this offense and has fallen behind multiple players in the pecking order.

DEPTH CHART
QBs: Justin Fields, Tyson Bagent, Nathan Peterman
RBs: Khalil Herbert, D'Onta Foreman, Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, Khari Blasingame
WRs: D.J. Moore, Darnell Mooney, Tyler Scott, Velus Jones Jr., Trent Taylor, Equanimeous St. Brown
TEs: Cole Kmet, Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis, Jake Tonges